The line was opened on 5 May 1900, a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)-gauge cog-wheel railway using the Abt rack system.

From this point the line climbs steeply through the vineyards, the steepest gradient being 1 in 4.3 (23%).

In the mid-1990s, faced with greatly increased operating costs, the Canton of Vaud and the communities served by the railway petitioned the Federal Government to revoke its 1985 decision.

This brought about, in 1999, talks which resulted in the founding, the following year, of Transports Publics du Chablais as the parent body of local public transportation with the four local railway companies as founding members.

As of December 2017[update], Transports Publics du Chablais rostered two locomotives, one kleinlokomotive (French: tracteur), six railcars (French: automotrices), five driving trailers, two goods wagons, and six utility vehicles for service on the Aigle–Leysin line.